


Love realization

by Vault_Emblem



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken | Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword
Genre: Feelings Realization, First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, brief appearance of Lyn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:35:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24736279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vault_Emblem/pseuds/Vault_Emblem
Summary: Wil, Rath, and their journey to realize their feelings for each other.
Relationships: Rath/Wil (Fire Emblem)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	Love realization

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Asdrator](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asdrator/gifts).



> HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY FRIEND! I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS <3

Wil falls in love with Rath immediately.

Well, maybe he should explain it better: he wouldn’t describe this as a case of “love at first sight”, but that’s because love feels too strong of a word to use it at such an early stage. Love is something that comes later, but Wil’s pretty sure when he says that he felt something since the first time his eyes laid on Rath.

After all, Rath is pretty, he can admit it without remorse, so of course that’s one of the first things he noticed, but there was also something else: he was curious about him, he wanted to approach him, he wanted to get to know him.

Of course, they didn’t exactly have much time to socialize, save for a few words exchanged while they were on the move, so Wil never really got to act on these desires.

Things change when they meet again in Eliwood’s army. This time, there’s way more time to talk, and Wil decides to take advantage of it.

At first, Rath acts rather standoffish, and Wil almost fears that he has forgotten about him, but luckily that isn’t the case. Still, he persists like only he knows how to do, and yeah, he probably has gotten annoying a few times, but hey! Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, you know?

It’s when he manages to make him laugh for the first time that Wil realizes that he’s done for. Since he heard the sound of Rath’s laughter his first instinct – instinct that he manages to suppress or else he doubts it would’ve ended up well – is to squish his face between his hands and tell him how cute he is, because yes, he was being cute, very very cute.

It’s then that Wil realizes that he wants to hear him laugh again, even if it’s at his expense. It’s a burden he’s willing to carry.

He’s never seen Rath’s eyes light up like that, and even though the sound of his laugh is a bit awkward at first – almost as if he had forgotten how to make it – it’s so adorable that Wil’s more than willing – ah, that’s a nice pun – to hear it again.

The only problem is what to do to make him laugh: he had tried before, but only now he has succeeded and he has no idea about how he did it. He was just trying to make Rath understand that he isn’t weird at all; what part of “normal archer number three” is funny? He just picked a normal number to emphasize his normalness.

Maybe that’s the secret? He wasn’t trying to make Rath laugh when it happened, so maybe he just needs to be himself and not force anything – even though that would raise a lot of questions because then does it mean that Rath finds him funny or that he’s just laughing at him?

Oh well, whatever it is, it’s worth a try anyways.

For Rath, for Rath it’s different.

Having had to leave his village so young, he had to learn much of the world on his own, but in his experiences, he never found out about love.

Not that he didn’t know what it was or never experienced it – after all, there are different kinds of love – but… he never experienced this kind of romantic love.

When he first joined Lyn, he hadn’t paid much attention to the others; he preferred to stay on his own – he wasn’t used to other people’s company – so he didn’t get particularly closed with any of them except for Lyn, but she’s a fellow sacaen, it’s different.

After saving her grandfather, Rath didn’t have a reason to stay – he had other business – and he disappeared, not without speaking with Lyn first. It had been a long time since he had met a sacaen, and her presence made him feel, if not quite at home, at least closer to it.

He left without many ceremonies and didn’t look back, though he did think about them from time to time even once he was alone.

He might’ve not participated much, but he had gotten used to having people around faster than he would’ve believed; the silence that surrounded him in his travels was almost unbearable now.

And then, he meets them again.

At first he was surprised, but even if he isn’t showing it, he’s happy to be with them again. He doesn’t do this out of malice, but simply because he hadn’t been taught how to express his emotions, so even now he doesn’t know how to do it.

This is the reason why he’s surprised when Wil makes him laugh. That’s a sound that hasn’t left his mouth for a very long time. It’s just so unexpected and dumb and… funny. Yes, it’s genuinely funny, he doesn’t even know why.

When Wil leaves, there’s a weird taste in Rath’s mouth that he can’t explain. A sense of… longing? Maybe, he isn’t sure.

The only thing he knows is that there’s something that’s holding tight on his chest, so much that he almost can’t breathe.

It scares him – is he dying? – but then, in a moment, it’s all gone.

Strange indeed, but for the moment he decides not to worry about it too much. Accidents like this happen, he supposes.

Except it happens again, multiple times actually, and Wil is involved every time.

Rath doesn’t know what this is; he only knows that when Wil talks to him, his whole insides feel like they’re bursting in flames. It’s something that he never felt before, and it happens only with this weird strange guy that he has unexpectedly grown attached to.

What’s happening to him?

He finds his answers one night, as he’s stargazing with Lyn.

It’s a habit that they’ve picked recently, but it helps them remember their origins. It’s during these moments of quiet, of closeness to Father Sky and Mother Earth, that he usually manages to make order inside his head.

That day, however, he can’t do it. No matter how hard he thinks about it, he can’t decipher what his reactions to Wil’s presence mean.

He wants to ask for help, but he finds himself short of words to do so. How can he open up to anybody?

He’s in dire need of a push, and thankfully, Lyn gives him exactly that; she’s noticed that something has been up with him for a while, and that’s the perfect occasion to ask. After all, if he needs help, she’s more than willing to give it to him.

“Rath, what’s wrong?”

He wasn’t expecting to hear those words. Not that he’s been actively hiding his feelings, but he didn’t think anyone would pick up on them.

“I’m…”

It takes him only a moment of hesitation before everything pours out.

This is the first time Rath opens up completely to somebody else, but he’s glad it’s happening with Lyn. He trusts her and he knows that his secret is safe with her.

He tells her about the aching, about the fire; he tells her how Wil’s presence is the cause of all this, and Lyn lets him speak, not interrupting even once, as he talks and talks.

This has to be their longest conversation yet – Rath has never been one for many words after all – but it doesn’t feel heavy; if anything, it feels liberating to finally be able to say what he’s feeling inside out loud.

When it’s over, he believes that Lyn will be surprised, perplexed even. It’s a big mystery after all.

However, when he turns towards her, she’s smiling.

“Rath,” she says, “I think you’re in love.”

In love…

Could that be?

It’s hard to come to terms with it, but in insight it makes sense: why else would he crave Wil’s presence so badly that it hurts? It feels weirdly right.

“I am… in love with Wil,” he admits, even if his voice is merely a whisper, but it’s enough to make him feel free in a way that he hasn’t felt since a very long time. By acknowledging it, he’s not shackled anymore to these emotions; they’re part of him and they’re not a weight.

He feels lighter.

“You think so?” he asks, because he wants to be certain.

“Oh, I know so,” Lyn replies, “You may think that you’re emotionless, but I see the way your eyes light up when you’re together. Also I’m pretty sure I saw you smile at him more than once.”

She chuckles.

“I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever seen you so happy with anybody else. It’s kind of cute.”

“I-I…” Rath tries to reply to that obvious teasing, but he finds none of the words he wants to say. There’s so much in his mind that he’s finding speaking altogether hard, something that Lyn notices.

“But Wil…”

“What about him?”

“You think he feels the same?”

“Why shouldn’t he?”

What does Lyn mean? It’s a fair question to ask. How is Rath supposed to know what Wil feels or doesn’t feel?

Sensing his confusion, Lyn explains:

“He follows you around like a puppy.”

“He does that with everybody,” Rath points out, however.

It’s true: Wil does have the tendency to stick to whoever is near enough for him to strike a conversation. Rath used to find it irritating, but not so much anymore; now, he expects it. It’s meaningful that now, every time they make it back to camp, he doesn’t simply hop off his horse and disappear who knows where, but he waits around for Wil to find him and join him.

Still, that doesn’t mean anything, or at least Rath doesn’t think it does. Despite his own inexperience and despite the fact that he knows he should trust Lyn’s words, he finds himself unconvinced: from what he’s gathered seeing others, these matters are usually complicated. Would they really be that simple in their case then? Maybe, but also maybe not.

He’ll have to think about it.

“Well, I suppose I’ll leave you to meditate on this,” Lyn says then, knowing that this is going to be a lot for Rath to process, “It’s time I get back to camp.”

She begins to get up, dusting her clothes, but before she begins to make her way back, Rath stops her.

“Lyn… Thank you.”

She smiles.

“Anything for you Rath.”

Now that Rath’s alone, his thoughts cross freely in his mind without any chance of putting them in order. So many emotions, so many questions.

Is Lyn right? Is he in love with Wil? And does Wil reciprocate?

A sigh leaves Rath’s lips as he lies down on the grass, eyes towards the sky. Maybe Father Sky has the answers, and if he looks hard enough, he’ll find them, but unfortunately no revelation comes to him. The stars are as quiet as ever.

He supposes he’ll just have to live and let live.

… He could just ask Wil, couldn’t he? It would be easy: he’d just need to take Wil aside and confess everything.

What if Lyn isn’t right? What if Wil sees him only as a friend?

If he says something out of place, he might ruin everything. He might lose this so cherished company, and he doesn’t want that.

Only Wil makes him feel this way, and he doesn’t want to lose his friendship, even at the cost of never confessing his feelings.

If he doesn’t do anything about them, maybe they’ll leave him alone.

If only it was this easy.

“Hey Rath, what are you going to do after the war?”

When Wil catches up with Rath after they get back to camp, this wasn’t the kind of conversation that Rath thought they were going to have.

He hesitates, before deciding to be honest about it.

“I’ll probably leave,” is what he says then. He wasn’t expecting Wil to be this upset upon the news, though.

“What?” he says in fact, cutting Rath’s path by positioning himself in front of him with a firmness that he had never seen in this easy-going guy, “You can’t leave!”

“I have to, my duty--”

“But you can’t!” Wil insists, “What about us? What about _me_?”

He puts particular emphasis on that last word, leading Rath to believe that this matter has to be very important for him, which also leads to believe that maybe there’s a chance that he might return his feelings after all.

Still, he cannot stay, he knows it.

It looks like, even if Wil reciprocates, things will be hard anyways. Maybe he shouldn’t try at all.

“At least let me come with you!”

Those words are unexpected to Rath. Did Wil just ask to take him with him?

“You’d do that?” he asks, “You’d leave everything for me?”

“Yes!” Wil answers, with no ounce of hesitation, something that takes Rath off guard, “I don’t want to leave you, I…”

Now there’s some hesitation, although Wil gets rid of it pretty quickly.

“You are very dear to me Rath, and I don’t want to lose you. I… I love you.”

Rath freezes.

Did he just…

“Oh, maybe I shouldn’t have said that,” Wil realizes, misinterpreting Rath’s surprise for disappointment, “I’m sorry, I--”

Rath lounges forward, closing his arms around Wil and pressing their lips closer. This is his first kiss – is it Wil’s as well?

Speaking of Wil, he’s tense, but it lasts only for a moment before he melts into the kiss, pulling Rath into a hug and caressing his face.

It feels so right, like they were meant to be.

Is this how Rath is supposed to feel? He thinks so. After all, these things are supposed to feel good.

They part only when the need of air becomes stronger than the need to keep kissing.

“It’s settled then,” is what Wil says. He’s always been one to rush into things head first.

As for Rath, he wouldn’t consider himself as careless, but he can’t help but to feel a certain eagerness.

“Are you sure then?” he asks again.

“I thought I made it clear,” Wil says, smiling. He’s still in Rath’s arms and he’s making no motions to move, and Rath doesn’t make any moves to push him away either. It’s a comfortable contact.

“It is settled then.”

Rath’s voice comes with a clarity and firmness that neither of them was expecting. It really is settled, as simple as it is.

“Wherever you go, I’ll follow,” Wil promises, and Rath finds himself smiling. It isn’t the thin smile that he usually does right before bursting into laughter because Wil has said something funny, but a true, heartfelt, smile.

Somehow, he gets the feeling that he’ll be smiling more and more as time goes on.

Another thing he’ll have to be grateful to Wil for.


End file.
